


Liberated, At Last

by Multifandomness_101



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-11-06 17:49:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11041200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multifandomness_101/pseuds/Multifandomness_101
Summary: Mythology has always intrigued humanity. Whether it be legends and fables, or simple superstition, myths have been and probably will always be part of daily human life. They definitely make life more interesting. But that's all they are, myths. Right?Wrong. Definitely wrong.Daneul is 16, has finished school and college already, and has a shit ton of emotional baggage. Her name means 'different' for a reason; it wasn't listed above.





	Liberated, At Last

**Author's Note:**

> This is also posted on my tumblr blog, as well. Here is my uselessly long blog url:  
> https://pledis-bighit-sm-jyp-writing.tumblr.com/post/158118721973/liberated-at-last

Mythology has always intrigued humanity. Whether it be legends and fables, or simple superstition, myths have been and probably always will be part of daily human life. They definitely make life more interesting. But, that's all they are; myths. Right?

Wrong. Definitely Wrong.

Sometimes, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have my incidents. I can't even describe them properly. They were almost like a defense mechanism; I would seal myself away, where no one could hurt me all over again.

One thing I figured out that helped, was running. It reminded me of the good ol’ days: back when I was free. I would run from 6:00 in the morning, to 6:00 in the evening, only stopping to eat and drink some water. And because I started this when I was like 9 years old, I have always had VERY strong endurance and stamina. Let’s just say, when it came to gym class, track and field was always my favorite.

The worst thing was, I had to deal with it by myself. There was nobody who could relate. No school counselor, no teacher, no mum or dad, no friend, no sibling, nobody, could really sympathize with how I felt most of my life. Whenever I would get close to someone, I would have one of my episodes, and I would be back at square one. My main thought was always, “What did I do in a past life to deserve this? Murder the royal family?”

The pro to my phenomenon, is that since I had so much free time to myself, that when I wasn’t running, I was writing or reading. I had read everything in my house at least thrice by the time I was a preteen, including the 4-inch thick Ukrainian cookbook. I quickly became the strong-silent type when I first came to Glenmary (I feel old now, thinking about it). Of course, when I had one of my episodes, no one could tell except my friends, so I was just dubbed the quiet one in classes, and I went with it. I always had my earphones and a book of some kind with me, so it wasn’t exactly hard to do such a feat.

Eventually, after a while, almost all my friends had left. Either, the class, the school, the country. I never really thought about why that happened. I simply assumed that they didn’t like me. I guess it never really occurred to me that it might have some other cause. Or, perhaps it did, but I never wanted to admit that. Huh, it’s funny; how I would rather blame myself than accept the truth. I’d rather just put in my earphones, read my book or work on mine, than just admit to myself that my name suits me after all. Why? Because my name is Daneul, which means “different”. And I hate it. Just because of how painfully accurate it is.

Oh, I almost forgot. I’m not 16 years old. I’m 16 centuries old. I’m part angel, so I basically, just like, can withstand extreme temperatures, high stamina, strong, and practically immortal. I won’t die, but I can be killed. The downside: I don’t have any wings. I can’t have the 1 thing angels love and rely on the most. I didn’t realize until like, after I graduated. So, after high school and university, I had to travel a lot to avoid being discovered or recognized by my old classmates.

The way the whole “sprouting wings” thing works, you have to love someone. Not even romantically: it could be your parents, your sibling, your best friend, even an activity. For me, since my parents were gone all the time (spare me the pity, will you?), I didn’t have parents to love, nor love me back; I’m an only child, so siblings are ruled out; and the possibility of the last one is kind of eliminated with the whole, self-exclusion thing. I think that if the sport one really worked, I would’ve had my wings a LONG time ago.

Another thing, angels apparently have soulmates. The only way you can tell is that when you both love each other, your eyes go the same colour, and your feathers change to that colour.

So, you don’t age until your wings are fully grown. I was liberated, but trapped. It’s kinda weird, your wings aren’t fully grown until they love you back. From what I know, you grow discs in your shoulder blades, when you first fall in love. You can only sprout wings when you realize it. When they love you back, your wings are full sized. Also, you don’t even begin to age until you sprout wings, so now, while my body is stuck at fourteen, my brain is much more advanced than the average fourteen year old. Then again, a wingless angel who’s over a dozen centuries old, isn’t exactly average. Now, I’m at sixteen, and not a newborn, because my mum didn’t disappear until I was what, 7? 8? Yeah, 8 years-old, and I just loved her memory, and that lasted until I was sixteen, but I didn’t grow any discs on my shoulders.

However, my life is still pretty good. I live in the old family mansion, and I work at this tiny town’s library. How do you think I learned so much? I’ve read every single book there. More recently, I’ve been feeling upper-back pains, and from what I know of medical science and my own anatomy, there’s no reason that this should be happening. Except, maybe… eh, nah. I can’t be actually growing wings… could I?

I guess, there is… one person who has broken through my emotional walls. Never thought it would be him, though. His name is Joshua, and he is something special to me now.

Everyday, without fail, at 8:00 AM, he is sitting on the bench I pass on my morning jog through the park. Even during the winter, when there isn’t even any light out yet, he sits there, adding some comforting routine to my day. Along with some adorable features, of course, with the tip of his nose turning pink, matching his cheeks. Ah, that makes my day.

One thing is for sure: he is full of surprises. For example, one particularly cold morning, he had two thermoses of hot chocolate. When he saw me approaching on my usual path, he stopped me and offered me a thermos. The surprise must have shown on my face, because he let out a sweet little chuckle, and handed it to me. I thanked him shyly, as nobody really communicated with me outside of work at the library.

At that moment, I had a strange feeling of déjà vu. I peered over at him and realized something. ‘No no no no no, this can’t be happening. This… this guy…’ He was my old classmate. ‘But how? He hasn’t changed at all…’ He wasn’t from over a dozen centuries ago, but only a few years, as I kind of missed school. (Haha, I’m serious.) I squinted, trying to make sure it was him before I spoke up.

He must have felt my gaze because he looked up at me. “Like the view? People say I do look younger than I am.” I waved him off with a lame excuse. 

A few days passed, and he still hadn’t recognized me yet. I decided to take a leap of faith, I had literally had forever. I looked away and took a deep breath. “Joshua? Is that you?”

He turned his head so quickly, I thought he would snap his neck. “How do you know my name?”

“Well, you see, I was in your class for almost four years. I thought you wouldn’t have recognized me at first, but after this long, jeez. You apparently haven’t become any more observant.”

“In my- in my class?” He looked closer at my face, eyes widening in realization. “Daneul?” He laughed, his head nearly snapping all over again from backing up too quickly.

“Wow, I’m surprised it took you this long to realize, even for you.”

“You haven’t changed at all, have you? Same attitude, same comebacks, same face.” He looked closer again. “Wow, really same face. Like, exactly the same. How did I never recognize you?”

Days passed. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months. I now would stop to have a conversation with him, every day. I realized, with every little conversation, we learned a little bit more about each other. I realized, that with every little conversation, my life felt a little bit better than before. I realized, with every little conversation, my upper-back however, felt a little worse. I realized, with every little conversation, I felt a little more in love with him. I realized, that with every little conversation, he loved me a little more. So far, he didn’t actually realize it himself.

Now, I have to wear a giant sweater to cover my stormy grey wings. I’ve decided that enough was enough. He deserves to know the truth, even if he doesn’t accept it. I texted him, saying to meet me at the old blue bridge. He asks why and I say I have something important to show him.

It’s perfectly safe, but no one likes to go down there because there was a legend. Apparently, in the river it is built to cross, are the souls of all the angels that fell in love, and died in love, just from old age. They say that the reason there are rapids is that the souls are dancing together happily, celebrating their happy lives, just underneath the surface. I don’t know why people avoid it, though; that’s a fairly happy legend; just the souls of the old and celebrating.

I’m standing sitting on the ledge, halfway across the bridge, overlooking the white water rushing a few hundred feet below. I heard him call out, and I look at him, taking in the sight before me. It’s summer, so he’s wearing his khaki shorts, with a blue & white tee-shirt and runners. I’m wearing my favorite shorts and a tank top. I learned a trick a while ago: turning my wings invisible, since now, they’re too long to hide, nearly reaching my ankles. Unfortunately, I can't actually wear anything over my shoulder blades since they, y'know, exist there.

Josh speaks up, “Daneul, what are you doing?” He half-chuckles. “You’re making me kinda nervous, there, Danny.”

I smile to myself at his nickname for me, thinking, ‘Yup, I’ve got to tell him, now.’ He hugs me from behind, nearly making me jump off the edge earlier than planned.

“Sorry to worry you, it’s just calming to watch the water.” I got off and stood on the creaky floorboards.

“So, you had something to show me?” He asks, his curiosity clearly shown with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, more tell than show, but yeah.” I take a deep breath, ‘Now or never.’ “I just wanted to say, that ever since we bumped into each other again, I’ve felt something. Something important. I’ve been waiting for this my whole life, which is longer than you’d think.” I climbed back onto the ledge, facing him, my face serene.

“Hold on, Danny, w-what are y-you d-doing?” This time, there was no half-chuckle. All there was on his normally smiling face, was seriousness, worry, and shock. His eyes looked into mine; his striking brown orbs demanding my gaze.

As I said my last sentence, I obliged. My stare never straying from his face, admiring every inch of freckle-speckled cheeks, lightly dusted with pink from the heat. “I just want to tell you now, since you may hate me for lying to and deceiving you before, I truly treasured our time together.”

“Daneul, what are you saying?”

Deep breath. Deep breath. “I love you, Joshua.” And with that, I let myself fall backward.

Apparently, he wasn’t having it, because he jumped after me. I saw him run to the edge, and for the first time for over 1 400 years, when I knew he would be watching, I let my graceful wings be seen, fully stretched out. I stop to look behind me and nearly choke at the sight. He has- “Wings? You- you have wings? You’re one too?” I manage to choke out.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry, I didn’t tell you, but I was actually going to before you beat me to it.”

When we were on the ground again, I didn’t know what to make of his expression. He looked in awe, confused, and most of all shocked. The next second, he’s pressed against my body, hugging me so tightly I could barely breathe. We stay there for quite a while, just together. He separates from me, looking into my eyes. I notice he’s trembling, quite a lot. However, we stay in silence. Until I feel a hand on my cheek, and see that he’s a lot closer now. He takes a shallow breath. His smile returns, but it’s little, not the one that takes over his face. I decide that this one seems more sincere and meaningful.

“I thought I had lost you for a second there. Why didn’t you tell me? I would have underst-” He suddenly stops in the middle of his sentence, staring directly into my eyes.

“What? What’s wrong?” I ask as it wasn’t like him to leave an idea unsaid.

“Your eyes, they changed color, and so did your wings. They aren’t grey feathers anymore, they’re black.

“What?” I look at my feathers, and see that he’s right: my wings changed color. Now, they’re a deep blue, the color of the midnight sky. Looking closer I could see constellations of stars that I couldn't recognize.

I have some curiosity at this point, but about a far more important matter. “Your wings, just out of curiosity, what color are they normally?”

“Grey, like yours used to be. Why do you ask?” He inquires, raising his eyebrow. (Ngl, it was kinda hot.)

“Because right now your wings colors too. They're blue-ish white”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Does this mean…”

“Yeah, I guess it does. It’s comforting to know that I’ve already met my soulmate. How long have you been waiting?” He asks competitively, back to his old self.

“In years, or?”

“In all. I bet I’ve been waiting longer!” Yep, back to his old self.

“Yeah right! How long have you been waiting?” I scoff.

“I’ll have you know, I’ve been waiting for over 4 centuries.”

“Ha! That’s nothing. I’ve been waiting for over 10 centuries.”

We begin to bicker, and when we run out of things to argue about, we simply stare at each other in admiration.

“Y’know that legend, about this river? The one about the dancing souls?” I ask.

“Yeah, I know it, why?”

“One day, I think we’ll be part of it.” I simply state.

“Really? Why’s that?” he asks, his innocent confusion shining through the sparkle in his now grey eyes.

“Because as long as I have you, I’ll always be happy in the long run.” I say, with a small smile of gladness.

“Wow. You are so cheesy-”

“Hey!”

“Excuse you! As I was saying, you are so cheesy but I care about you anyways.” He says, his eyes sparkling with self-satisfaction.

“I love you, Josh.” I giggle, shaking my head at his sweet antics.

“I love you too, Danny.”


End file.
